Different Than in Pictures
by xXxDaughteroftheKingxXx
Summary: "Do you, by any chance, know where Percy Jackson is?" The girl's smile faded. "No... I... I don't. Sorry." My take on what might've happened if Rome hadn't accepted Percy. RATED T.
1. Part 1

_**Different Than In Pictures**_

_**By: xXxDaughteroftheKingxXx**_

**AN: This is a much… darker story. Rated T, obviously, but I think T is appropiate for this... **

**The story is about what might've happened if Rome didn't accept Percy. It's very AU, so I apologize for not getting facts right... **

**So, without further ado, here is **_**Different Than In Pictures**_**.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own PJO/HoO.**

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><p><em>Part 1 <em>

_PIPER_

**NEW ROME WAS **much more different than what Jason had described it as.

Of course, it was still very disciplined and warlike, like he'd said, but the kids seemed crueler, angrier. In fact, the first thing they had done when the _Argo II_ sailed into their camp was send a volley of arrows towards them.

"Wow," Leo had said sarcastically, putting up the shields around the ship, "friendly bunch of people."

Piper couldn't help but agree with him. How could Jason, one of the sweetest, nicest people she'd ever met, come from _this_? There must've been a mistake somewhere. Piper even tried imagine Zeus sending a birth certificate for Jason, only this time with the _Greek _god of the sky as his father, not the Roman. The image didn't work very well in her mind.

After landing, Jason had taken one person with him to meet the praetors, and that person was Annabeth. It was clear that, out of all the demigods on the ship, Annabeth and Jason were the two leaders. Despite having gone on a quest, Leo and Piper were still newbies, while Annabeth was the ultimate expert at this.

The two had been approached by two teenagers—a skinny blonde boy wearing a white toga with a blue t-shirt underneath that was wielding a knife and teddy bear**[1]**Piper tried not to laugh at that) and a tall girl with black hair wearing a regal purple toga and golden armor underneath of that. Two metallic dogs—one silver, the other gold—were kneeled at her heel, following her everywhere. Their ruby red eyes seemed to find Piper and stare at her the entire time, a thing of which Piper found extremely creepy.

What had Jason called the two teenagers? Pray… Pray… Pray something.

After several moments of a quiet argument between Jason, Annabeth, and the two teenagers, the _Argo II _and its passengers were allowed in. Piper heard from Annabeth later that the girl—whose name was apparently Reyna—had vetoed her companion—Octavian—'s decision. Smart girl. That Octavian boy looked like nothing but trouble. After all, how many peacemaking people walked around a camp carrying a knife and a teddy bear? Piper guessed not very many, if any at all.

It took them a while to actually be able to _get _into the camp, which actually seemed more like a city. First, they were stopped by this weird statue of a Roman god—Terminus, Piper remembered—who required them to remove their weapons as they entered the city. There, once again, Jason and Annabeth met those two teenagers—Praetors, they were called—and learned nothing of where this Percy Jackson was. Then, they were escorted to the Senate House, the place where most of them, including Piper, either fell asleep or zoned out.

That had been about five minutes ago. The meeting or whatever in the Senate House had been dismissed, and they were sent to the Fifth Cohort.

"Did you learn anything about Percy?" Piper breathed, running up next to Annabeth.

Annabeth's fist moved to where her knife once was, and she cursed under her breath while shaking her head. "Nothing," she muttered, voice angry and impatient. "Damn Romans won't tell us _anything_. They know who he is, but that's all they'll tell us."

"And you haven't seen him _anywhere_ around here?"

"None of us have, Piper," Annabeth said gravelly. "I have a bad feeling about this… He's either in some deep trouble, on a quest, or…" Her voice trailed off, and she cringed. "Let's just hope he's on a quest or something, Piper."

From the finality in Annabeth's voice, Piper could tell their conversation was over. The daughter of Athena remained silent the rest of the way to this 'Fifth Cohort', while most of the other demigods talked to each other. Leading the way, frame tall and proud, was Jason Grace.

Jason… He hadn't seemed the same this last week. He'd been stressed even more this week than he had during the quest, and that was saying something. The stress seemed to increase even more when they reached Camp Jupiter. Most of the campers there seemed to know him, but they didn't welcome him. In fact, Piper had even caught a few of them—one being that Octavian guy—shooting nasty glares at the son of Jupiter. It was pretty much the opposite of Camp Half-Blood; Camp Jupiter didn't even seem to care that Jason had disappeared and was now back.

"Well," Jason finally stopped in front of a large, Roman-styled building. A small smile lay on his face, "guys, welcome to the Fifth Cohort."

The group walked in silently, noticing that it was fairly crowded, much like the Hermes Cabin. Leo snorted softly, and Piper just barely heard him mutter to the Stoll brothers, "Roomy."

A tall black-haired boy in the back of the room looked up when the demigods had entered. At the sight of Jason, he grinned, while many of the others in the room gasped excitedly. "Jason Grace," the boy said, grinning wildly. "Good to have you back, man!" He and Jason embraced with one of those strange 'man-hugs', before letting go, and looking over each other.

"And you're…" Jason grimaced, as if trying to remember the boy.

"Dakota, son of Bacchus," the boy said, unfazed by his friend's amnesia. "Senior centurion of the Fifth Cohort." He glanced at the others, blue eyes widening. "I see you brought your… _graecus _friends to stay here."

"Did he just say 'greggus'?" Travis(or was it Connor?) Stoll snickered, nudging his brother and Nico. Annabeth rolled her eyes, shushing them.

Jason scowled. "Reyna and _Octavian _ordered we be sent here," he said, a disgusted expression on his face when he mentioned Octavian. There must've been bad blood between the two, or at least that's what Piper noticed. "Speaking of which, why weren't you there?"

Dakota shrugged. "Fixing up the Cohort for our visitors," he said smoothly, but Piper could just barely tell he was lying. His eyes showed it. "Gwen was there, so it's okay."

"Oh… okay," Jason didn't sound like he believed Dakota either, but he went along with it.

The son of Bacchus flashed them all another a smile. "Well, make yourselves at home, oh, unwanted of the Roman camp. This has been your senior centurion, and I bid you all a goodnight." With that, he turned on his heel and walked back to his bunk, collapsing onto it. The Greek demigods looked at each other, confused, because it was only about four o'clock... No where near the time to go to sleep, even for them, who were used to the EST.

A younger, dark-skinned girl giggled, standing up. "Jason," she said, smiling, "it's good to have you back. I'm Hazel, your cousin."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Another Big Three kid?

"Daughter of Pluto," Hazel confirmed. "Nice to meet you all. I apologize for Dakota's behavior, he's a little… wonky." She glanced at Leo, eyes slightly widened, then turned away.

"Wonky…" Will Solace repeated. "Strange word."

Hazel grinned and nodded. "Yeah, well, like Dakota said, make yourselves at home. I… don't think we have enough bunks here, but I'm sure we can get you some cots." She turned, also about ready to leave, when Annabeth cut her off.

"Wait," Hazel looked at the daughter of the Athena who was speaking curiously. "Do you, by any chance, know where Percy Jackson is?"

Piper noticed that the room seemed to darken. The Roman demigods that had been watching all looked away and went back to minding their own business. Hazel's smile faded.

"No…" the daughter of Pluto said hesitantly. "I… I don't. Sorry."

It was then that Piper knew there was something wrong. These Romans were hiding something about Percy Jackson, and whatever it was, it wasn't a good thing.

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><p><strong>AN: Oooh... They're hiding something... *creepy music in the background*<strong>

**Now, this takes place a couple of weeks before Solstice. Say the Hephaestus kids did an extremely good job, and they got it done EARLY. OMG. Lol.**

**[1]: Say that Octavian managed to convince Reyna to make Rome choose a new Praetor... earlier. Say... like, Winter Solstice earlier. And, since Percy isn't there... say the Romans chose Octavian.**

**Thanks for reading, and review! (:**


	2. Part 2

_**Different Than In Pictures**_

_**By: xXxDaughteroftheKingxXx**_

**AN: Why, hello there. Here I am again... with my creepy story... Ha. I love writing dark stories... I'm just like that. Not really a mushy, romance-y person sometimes... At school, most definitely. In writing, no.**

**You won't find anything about Percy in this chapter, I'm telling you that now... But, it sets up for them finding him... Hopefully. ;)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO/HoO.**

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><p><em>Part 2<em>

_PIPER _

**THE DAYS **at New Rome flew by quickly. The Solstice was dawning upon the demigods faster than anyone could imagine, and still, no progress was made whatsoever. Most Roman demigods paid no attention to the Greek ones; only their comrades from the Fifth Cohort spoke or even considered them.

And still, there was nothing on the whereabouts of Percy. The only thing Piper knew about where he was was that the Romans knew the location, and they weren't going to say a word about it. They were at square one.

But, something weird that Piper noticed about the Fifth Cohort was that their centurion, Dakota, was always gone at a certain point in the day. He would begin the day with drinking red wine—or maybe it was red Kool-aid—or something, saunter off to go do his business, and then return, an hour or so later. He'd miss one period of the day—free period, when everyone was allowed to roam around. Most demigods either stayed in their Cohorts, or went to train, or something along those lines. But Dakota... no one—at least no Greek—knew where he went. This ritual happened every day, and Piper guessed it had something to do with Dakota's absence at their first meeting in the Senate House.

She was beginning to become very, _very _suspicious of these Roman half-bloods.

* * *

><p>It was later on that day—sitting in the <em>Argo II<em>—that they began to act, even if in the littlest way, to the Romans' behavior.

"This is so strange," Will Solace spoke up from his place at the war table—or at least that's what it was supposed to be; it was more of a place to talk and eat, like the ping pong table back at camp. His handsome face was etched with signs of frustration and worry, and his tanned fists were clenched. "I didn't know Percy as well as most of you, but I _do_ know that we shouldn't be sitting around here while he could be de—"

The son of Apollo was cut off by a harsh glare from—strangely enough—Clarisse.

"Look," she said. Her voice was mostly harsh, but there seemed to be a bit of concern mixed in. "Kelp for Brains will be fine. He's taken care of himself before, and he can do it again. We don't have time for this—there's a war happening soon. We just need to focus on getting the seven together. If Percy's not one of those seven, we can't afford to worry about him."

As much as Piper hated to admit it, Clarisse was definitely right. They _did_ have a war, and they were due to leave in a matter of days. They were already cutting it close with their schedule; the Solstice was in less than a week. They _had _to figure out the seven, and get moving towards Greece.

"But, what if Percy _is_ part of the seven?" It was one of the Stoll Brothers—Piper couldn't tell which one—that spoke up. "It's pretty obvious he is, you know."

"No, it's not." Strangely, this time, it was Annabeth that spoke. All eyes turned to her, even Clarisse's. "The only reason Percy was dragged into this was because he's the unofficial leader of Camp Half-Blood. Clarisse is right. He might not even be part of the seven."

Her voice sounded so strained... so miserable, that Piper wanted to give her a hug. She looked what she sounded like too. Still, there was a fierce, determined expression on Annabeth's face. She wasn't going to give up on Percy just yet, and that was obvious.

"I have an idea," Leo said suddenly, his elfish face brightening. _Oh gods, _Piper thought. _This should be interesting._

"Why don't we just ask Rachel who the other four are?" Leo suggested with a grin. "I mean, she spoke the prophecy. Maybe she can help decipher it too."

Piper was... surprised, to say the least. Leo—the same Leo that had come up with all those insane, crazy, _stupid _ideas—had come up with yet _another _good idea. First the _Argo II_, now this.

What had the world _come _to?

"That's..." Katie Gardner's voice was very hesitant and surprised. "That's actually not a bad idea." Mutters of agreement came up from the table from some of the cabin leaders—the Stolls, Will, Piper, and a few others—and Leo grinned triumphantly, crossing his arms.

"I don't know," Thalia said finally with a sigh. "Rachel's Oracle powers or whatever only stretch to certain limits..." Leo's face fell. "Though, we still should try. We _are _getting desperate."

"All in favor of contacting Rachel?" the other Stoll brother said. Most peoples' hands went up, with the exceptions of Clarisse, who merely shrugged, and Annabeth, who looked nonchalant.

"So, it's settled then," Jason said, his voice stating the finality of the decision. He turned to his right, where Annabeth sat. "Will you contact Rachel for us?"

The daughter of Athena nodded, but was otherwise silent. Her expression remained impassive, and Piper wished nothing other than to be able to read minds or _something_ like that. Boy, would that help greatly.

Too bad that power didn't come with being a demigod daughter of Aphrodite.

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><p>It was that night when Piper found about Leo Valdez's third great idea.<p>

"Psst, Piper. Wake up." Piper groaned softly, rolling over to her other side, eyes still mostly closed. She was mostly asleep... or maybe she was dreaming.

"Beauty Queen. Wake up."

Again, she groaned, swatting upwards at presumably the unknown person. "Go away," Piper mumbled incoherently as she turned back on the other side of her bed.

A sigh escaped the person's lip. "Didn't want to have to do this, Pipes," This time it was a different voice... It sounded more like... Jason?

Before Piper could process what was happened, a hand clamped over her mouth, and another hand went on her shoulder. As a small shock was released through her body, the daughter of Aphrodite let out a muffled shriek, snapping awake...

...only to see Jason and Leo staring down at her intently.

"My gods, Jason," Piper whispered harshly, sitting up. "'the Hades was _that _for?"

Jason sent her an apologetic look and offered her his hand. "Sorry," he apologized sincerely. _"But,_ we had to wake you up."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Piper replied grumpily, crossing her arms with a yawn. "Why did you guys wake me up in the first place?"

Leo sat on her bed, his face filled with worry and slight excitement. She could barely see him; the building was dark, save for a couple candles here and there.

"We're going to take action." was his simple reply.

Piper looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "Come again?"

Jason nudged his friend's ribs with the slight roll of his eyes. Then, he too, sat on Piper's bed. "What Leo means," he clarified, "is that the two of us have been talking... And we think that this Percy Jackson is a part of the prophecy."

"After all," Leo added, "Hera could've switched Annabeth... She's as much of a leader as Percy is. In fact, she's been at camp longer."

"But she chose Percy," Jason said. "That's _got _to have some kind of meaning... She switched me instead of Reyna, and I had just become the Praetor, from what I've heard. We know I'm part of the prophecy, and Percy is too, most likely."

"Where... are you guys going with this?" Piper asked suspiciously, blinking tiredly.

"We're saying that, if we're going to leave for Greece," Leo explained, "we need Percy Jackson. We need to find him."

"Go on."

"We think that Dakota's disappearance everyday has something to do with it," Jason said in a hushed whisper.

"So, tomorrow, we're going to follow him, and we wanted to see if you'd come." Leo finished. "'Course, Pikachu** [1]** over here is a bit scared his Beauty Queen might get into trouble, but I told him you could take care of yourself." He winked.

Piper's face turned warm, and glancing at Jason, she could tell that he too was embarrassed. "Is there danger involved?" she asked, a slight smile on her face.

"When is there not?" was Leo's reply.

"Then, I'm in," Piper said, her face breaking out into a full-out grin. "I'm a dangerous girl—I thrive off of this kind of stuff."

Jason too grinned, traces of his rosy blush still there. "Good. So, during free period, we'll stay in here, and follow Dakota. Got it?"

"Got it. But, one more question."

"Shoot."

Piper looked back and forth between the two boys, trying hard not to smile. She hoped her expression was dead serious. "Which one of you came up with the idea?"

Jason's blue eyes shifted over to Leo, who looked down sheepishly. "Well, about that," the son of Hephaestus tried, but Piper cut him off.

"Oh, no, it's a good idea. But, if we get caught, and the Romans don't kill you first, I am _soo_ going to kill you."

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><p><strong>AN: And so, the oh-so amazing trio number 2 is going to figure out where the leader of oh-so amazing trio number 1 is! You might be wondering why Annabeth isn't searching... She knows her priorities. If Percy isn't one of the seven(which we all know he is,) she isn't going to search for him... Yet. She's probably going to do that after the seven have headed for Greece. <strong>

**[1]: I don't own Pikachu... But I HAD to do that.**

**Hope you all enjoyed this! :)**


	3. Part 3

_**Different Than In Pictures**_

_**By: xXxDaughteroftheKingxXx**_

**AN: And, this is the blessed chapter where they FOLLOW DAKOTA! And, you, my dear readers, get to see what he is up to. Does 'Kota's disappearance everyday have to do with Percy's absence? Hm... guess you'll just have to find out. ;)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO/HoO.**

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><p><em>Part 3<em>

_PIPER_

**THERE WERE TIMES **that charmspeaking was a great help to Piper and her friends.

"I don't think I've ever seen someone run that fast," Jason murmured as he sat on Piper's bed, wearing an amused smile. His eyes were focused on the bathroom, where Dakota currently was. Piper smiled; it wasn't that big of a deal... just ushering all of the remaining demigods _out _of the building...

"Me either," Leo agreed, shaking his head. "Gods, Beauty Queen, you've got some scary powers."

Piper rolled her eyes; way too many times had she told Leo not to call her that, and he still didn't listen. It was useless now; Beauty Queen officially was her name to Leo Valdez.

"What can I say? It's a gift."

The bathroom door creaked open, and Dakota stepped out, wearing armor over his purple shirt and jeans. His black hair was very messy, his eyes rimmed with red. A flask of Kool-aid(or red wine; Piper still wasn't sure what it was) was thrown over his shoulder; his sword was sheathed on his belt. **[1] **He looked ready to charge off into battle. The only thing out of place was a single lantern.

Dakota's brows furrowed as he caught sight of the trio. "Jason? Piper? Leo? What're you guys still doing here? It's free period, you know."

"Yeah, but we kind of just wanted to... you know, chill in here," Piper lied with a shrug.

"Oh... I see," Dakota's expression was pained, like he didn't know what to do. "Well, er, I guess I'd better get going..."

"Not so fast." Quick as lightning(no pun intended,) Jason shot up and stood between Dakota and the doorway. "You're not leaving until you tell us where you are going, Dakota."

The son of Bacchus looked surprised, then his expression became stony. "Don't do this, Jason," he said warningly. "It won't go over well with the Praetors."

At this, Jason flinched, and Piper and Leo chose then to stand up and walk next to them.

"What are you Romans hiding?" Leo asked suspiciously, his usually joy-filled eyes narrowed. "And don't play coy, Dakota."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Dakota," Piper finally spoke up, her voice coated with charmspeak. She smiled at him sweetly, and he turned to her, a bit awestruck. "You should tell us where you're going." She spoke to him like he was a naughty puppy in need of a reprimand.

"I... er..." His expression became torn. He looked back and forth between Piper and the door.

"Please?" Piper pressed, batting her eyelashes. Mentally, she rolled her eyes. "It would mean a lot if you let us follow you too! You know that you want to tell us. Who cares what the Praetors say? Just trust me, Dakota, okay?"

Dakota bit his lip, eyes wide and slightly fearful. After a few moments of silent debating between himself, the son of Bacchus nodded. "Of course," he said, gesturing towards the door. "Follow me."

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><p>Strangely enough, Dakota lead them to the edge of the camp—near the Tiber River—then stopped. His blue eyes looked around nervously, then he bent down next to a place in the grass and grabbed something—a handle, Piper guessed—and pulled up.<p>

"Follow me," Dakota repeated as he began to climb down the trapdoor, lantern in hand. "And, close the door when the last person gets in there."

Jason was the second to climb into the tunnel. His face was filled with caution, as if he didn't trust Dakota, but still, he followed the other demigod. Once he had made it to the bottom, Piper followed suit, then lastly, Leo.

The tunnel was just what it was—a dirty, damp tunnel. The floor was dirt; the walls were some kind of stone, and there was no discernable way to go. It automatically reminded Piper of the myth of the Labyrinth that she and her father had studied... But that was impossible... Annabeth had said that the Labyrinth was destroyed a couple of summers ago...

"This way," Dakota said, his voice very quiet. He walked towards the right, the light of the lantern filling the pitch blackness. With nervous glances, the trio followed after him—Jason in the front and Leo in the rear.

After a few minutes of walking, Dakota took another right, revealing another corridor. However, in this passage, there was a large door at the end, which seemed to be what Dakota was walking towards. There were also a couple of torches attached to the walls; other than that, it looked much like the first corridor.

As they neared the door, Piper's heart rate quickened. She found herself grabbing onto Jason's arm for reassurance; there was something behind that door... something she didn't want to see, but didn't know what it was.

"It'll be okay," Jason muttered, but he didn't sound too sure. There was something very... eerie about this place.

Once at the door, Dakota produced a key—a golden skeleton key—and unlocked the door, only to reveal yet a_nother _doorway. Piper breathed a sigh of relief; what had gotten her so worked up?

"We're almost there," the son of Bacchus reassured as he shut the door behind the four of them. "This is the last hallway, promise."

They pressed on forward for a few more minutes—this corridor just so happened to be much longer than the other two—until finally, Piper could see a door that looked much like the first one. She had begun to wonder... What would Dakota be doing back here? Getting Kool-aid high? Murdering people?

At long last, they reached the dreaded doorway, and the Roman demigod produced another, similar looking skeleton key and once again locked the door Piper's heart thumped madly in her chest; what was behind the door? Would any of this have anything to do with Percy Jackson?

Dakota opened the large door and stepped inside the room, revealing a circular room consisting of many doors. In the middle of the room, however, there was a wooden post. Even in the dim light, though, Piper could see the dark red blood(that's what it looked like, at least) that had splattered against dirt and the wooden post. The room smelled metallic, like blood, and she gagged.

"What is this?" Leo whispered, leaning up beside them. He looked as horrified as Piper felt.

Jason shook his head darkly. "I... don't know," he said. "I've never been here before... I don't remember..."

"That's because nobody's allowed down here," Dakota spoke up, turning to them. His demeanor looked strangely... evil in the dim lighting; though, his blue eyes were filled with pain and regret. "Octavian and Reyna just began using this place recently."

"How recently?" Jason asked suspiciously.

"Like, six months ago recently," Dakota answered as he walked over to a cell. Using a key he'd taken from out of his pocket, he unlocked the cell and motioned for the three of them to come towards him.

Carefully avoiding the blood and clinging onto Jason the entire time, Piper managed to make it to Dakota's side. She felt ready to throw up; the room smelled so vile and disgusting.

Inside the cell, Piper could see the silhouette of a boy—probably a teenager—whose arms were chained over his head, which was slumped wearily, touching his chest. His entire frame was slouched, as if too exhausted to sit up straight.

"You wanted to know where your Percy Jackson was," Dakota said, voice dark and pained. He pointed to the prisoner, and Piper's eyes widened as she began to put the pieces of the puzzle together. She felt sick.

"Well, there he is."

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><p><strong>AN: DUN. DUN. DUN! <strong>

**[1]: I know the book says it's red Kool-aid, but Piper doesn't know that, does she? :]**

**Hope you all enjoyed! Cliffie!**


	4. Part 4

_**Different Than In Pictures**_

_**By: xXxDaughteroftheKingxXx**_

**AN: We get to find out about Percy! And, I think you might've figured out what's going on in that room... :] This chapter is a bit... awkward to write. Awkward as in, I don't know how the characters would react to that... Though, Piper got sick from passing by that meat place, so one would figure she'd get sick by this... Jason stands for the same morals that Percy does, so he's okay... Leo, I think would be stunned... But, I apologize if I got the characters wrong, or if they're OOC.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO/HoO.**

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><p><em>Part Four<em>

_PIPER_

**THE FIRST THING **that Piper said was, "Oh my gods."

She was stunned. Disgusted. Horrified. Terrified. All of those in one. Her heart was pounding; her head was spinning. Her stomach twisted and turned, and she felt like she was going to puke onto Dakota's sandals any second now.

She couldn't bring herself to say anything. She could only clutch onto Jason—whose entire body had tensed—tighter and pray it was a dream. She didn't even _know _Percy Jackson, but the fact that _this _was happening to _anyone _made her disgusted.

Finally, Jason spoke up. "How _dare _you do this to _anyone_?" he said, voice low and cold. "It's cruel and unusual torture! That is _not _at _all_ what Rome stands for! It's-it's—"

"—It's the Praetors' orders," Dakota cut off with a glare. "I don't disobey my seniority, Jason Grace, no matter who it hurts or how much I disagree with it. Now, if you excuse me..." He pulled open the cell door and marched into it. **[1]**

"Get up," Dakota said harshly, glaring down at the probably half-conscious Percy Jackson.

A groan emitted from the Greek's lips, and he moved slightly, but showed no other sign of being conscious.

"I _said: Get up_!" With another glare, Dakota delivered a sharp kick to Percy's chest, and Piper gasped. Her hands flew to her mouth as Percy groaned again, this time looking up at his tormentor.

Had she been in her true senses, Piper probably would've ordered Dakota to take his sword and stab himself right then and there. But she was just too stunned... Too horrified to do anything. Jason and Leo seemed to be that way too; all they could do was stand there and merely watch as Dakota forced the prisoner onto his feet.

Once Dakota had gotten Percy out of there, he shoved him roughly onto the ground in front of the wooden posted and chained him there. Silently, the son of Bacchus moved to the far wall, where different types of whips and knives and such hung. He selected a whip that several leather straps with shards of glass, bones, metal, and so forth on it, and walked over to Percy.

More pieces fell into place. The blood, the wooden stand, the whip... the harsh, red cuts on Percy's back...

Dakota spent an hour every day in here, torturing Percy, and they had done nothing about it for _days _now.

Piper let out a string of curses—both English and Greek—towards the Roman demigod, but he seemed unfazed. Percy, on the other hand, let out a hoarse, pained laugh from his awkward position on the ground. **[2]**

Boy, was Annabeth going to be _pissed _when she found out about this.

Finally, Dakota turned and faced them. His expression was still impassive. "I think it's best you go now," he said simply. "I trust you'll be able to find your way back; just take the same way we did. I wouldn't recommend going off and looking around... Jupiter knows what lurks down here."

With that, he turned back around, and Jason faced the two. He nodded, and the three of them walked out of the room, shutting the door behind them.

They hadn't gotten halfway down that large hallway when Piper heard a loud, tormented scream. She froze in her steps, and closed her eyes. _Not yet... Save him later. Not yet._

"Come on, Piper," Leo said quietly. He put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Let's get out of this place."

Piper nodded, feeling shaky. "Yeah..." she muttered with a nod as Leo created a small ball of fire in his palm. "Let's go."

The three of them walked the remainder the corridor in dead silence, save for Percy's cries. Each time another scream was heard, Piper flinched. This was her _leader_. Percy was her leader; he was the Greeks' leader. Jason was... a Roman. He was _their _leader, not hers... He was one of them. He came from these people—these ruthless, vicious, bloodthirsty people.

There was no _way _that was possible.

Was Jason—not _her _Jason, but the Roman Jason—like this? Did he sentence innocent people to their near death? To their torment? Would he slowly and viciously take the life of a person, just because his superior ordered it? Did his loyalty stretch that far?

With a heavy heart, Piper walked in the tunnel, then eventually out and back to the Fifth Cohort. Surely, it hadn't been an hour, so they still had probably thirty minutes or so to discuss this.

Her heart went out to Percy Jackson, who was still down there, being beaten and tormented. There was that part of her that wanted to help him... She couldn't stop thinking about it.

But the main thing she couldn't stop thinking about was—_what if Jason was like that too?_

* * *

><p>"Well," Leo said as they all sat around Piper's bed. His voice seemed somewhat perky, as if he was purposefully trying to be upbeat for their sake. "At least we know where Percy is now..."<p>

"I don't think that's a good thing anymore," Jason said darkly. His expression had remained that way—stony, hardened, like he didn't want anyone to know he was hurting. But Piper could see behind his mask. His friends... doing that to someone... he didn't want to be like them.

"No, it is," Piper spoke up, for the first time since they'd left the underground chamber. "Now, we can rescue Percy. We can figure out if he's one of the seven."

Jason scowled. "No offense, but I don't think that'll matter if he's one of the seven now. He may not be able to heal in time."

A tense silence settled over the three. Piper tried digesting Jason's words; what if he was right? If Percy Jackson was a half-blood in the prophecy, would he be able to fight after having sustained such injuries? Would ambrosia and nectar be able to help him?

"First things first," Leo said finally, standing up, "someone needs to go tell Annabeth. She's probably in the _Argo II_, drawing up battle plans... I'll go talk to her." With that, he turned and ran out of the building, probably in an attempt to get out of the awkwardness.

Another unsettling silence drifted over the two, and Piper found herself looking around the building, doing everything not to meet Jason's eyes. Anything but that.

Finally, after several moments of silence, Jason said, "I'm sorry for... snapping at you." His voice sounded carefully controlled, like he worried he would snap again. "It's just I—"

"It's fine," Piper interrupted. "You're stressed, and I get that, Jas. Don't beat yourself up over it, okay? It's not your fault."

Jason shrugged, and Piper rolled her eyes. "Jason..."

"Fine. I'll do my best not to beat myself up. It's just..." He sighed, running a hand through his blonde hair. "This place is _nothing _like how I thought... Rome... it's so... different."

"It's not your fault," Piper repeated firmly.

Jason merely stared at her. His expression was pained; much like Percy's was, only, his face held a different, deeper pain. "Rome is nothing like I thought it would be." he whispered.

That pretty much summed up what Piper thought of Rome in a few words. With a nod, she whispered back, "Me neither."

* * *

><p><em>Fin.<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN: That's the end! You don't get to find out if they rescue Percy(because THAT would turn into a mushy, gushy Percabeth reunion,) and that doesn't fit the story. The main focus of this story was to see that Rome wasn't like Piper thought. Her hero—Jason—might not be that good of a hero. <strong>

**So, yes, there ends this depressing, angsty story. Oh, the Jasper angst at the end. Woe are their lives.**

**[1]: I see Dakota being against what he does... but willing to listen to Octavian and Reyna. Also, the reason why I mentioned red wine, is, possibly, he might get... you know... drunk first, so he wouldn't have to remember the pain he inflicted on Percy. Get what I mean?**

**[2]: And Percy... Oh, Percy. Still laughing in the face of your tormentor... I can still see him at least trying to laugh at that... **

**Well, I hope you enjoyed this story! Don't ask if I'll continue it; I won't. It's ending right here.**


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